Buy a template, use a contribution, or work my own?

I have a website https://www.ttreeltd.net as I actively sell laptops on ebay as well as ttreeltd

My question is specifically... Should I buy a Template from Template Monster (or the likes), or fuss with the contributions?

.... I love the Drop downs for my site and some of the other contributions as well but it seems like a lot of maintenance.

I suppose it depends on your goals.

What are you most looking for?

Is the maintenance your concern? If so, perhaps you just need to engage a designer/programmer to assist you on a periodic basis.

Or is the desire more to do with changing the look of your site?

In terms of buying a template or using a contribution or making your own ... that's a difficult answer.
Some "bought" templates are easy to work with. Some are not.
Some "contributions" are slick, and some are more complicated.
In both cases, some may have even been designed for a specific look (ie: 2 columns instead of 3, etc), and thus may have removed some functionality to accomplish that goal ... thus making it difficult to put back the functionality if you wanted to use it for other purposes.

I think the main question is ... what's your primary goal?

Thank you for your reply. Well thought out and has given me food for thought on what I really want. Still like the techie touch of the contributions so it will come down to a business decision. I especially dont want to lose functionality for sure. Thanks again!

petronew:

..... I especially dont want to lose functionality for sure. Thanks again!

Then you would be well advised to read this thread. If you go with TM you'll probably still need your techie hat. :smile: